The kiss still haunted her. How dare he think that that would work! She knew now more then ever that she did not love Thomas. It had been a week since the incident and had encountered him a few times but walked right past him every time.

        Elizabeth wanted to get her mind off everything so she invited Anna to spend the day with her at the mall. They had shopped for a few hours and were on there way to a restaurant for lunch. It was pretty crowded when they got there but were able to get a booth quickly.

        Anna had kept quiet all morning but couldn't any longer. “What's wrong?”

        Elizabeth looked up from the menu and looked at her. “What do you mean? Nothing's wrong.”

        “You can't lie to me.” She reached across the table and put her hand on Elizabeth's. “I know you miss him…”

        “This isn’t about Justin.”

        “Then what is it about?”

        “It's nothing.” Elizabeth knew she couldn't hide it, she could never hide anything from Anna. She had to tell someone. “Okay listen, Thomas is back in town and last week he kissed me and I.…” Her eyes got watery, but no tears.

        The waitress interrupted their conversation.

        “What can I get you ladies?” The young waitress shuffled her pen about as the two girls looked at each other.

        “Oh, I'll just have an iced tea please,” Elizabeth said. She could feel her knees shaking but had no idea why. As Anna was ordering her chef salad, Elizabeth looked around and her head started to ache when she saw who was sitting away from them.

        Meg and Thomas having lunch together? She wondered what that was about, and how did they know each other?

        Anna followed her gaze to the table a few feet away from them. “Oh my God, that's Meg again. I can't believe she's even showing her face in town.”

        “Don't you recognize the man?”

        “Not really.” Anna studied the man but couldn't get any response in her brain. “Why, who is he?”

        “Thomas.”

        Anna's face well as she stared back at her best friend. “You weren't joking. What about his wife? Where is she?”

        “They divorced a while ago. Seems he thinks I'm his one true love.”

        “Oh please! You're not going to take him back, are you? You'd be crazy if you did,” Anna said as the waitress placed Elizabeth's iced tea on the table and left.

        “Of course not! The one thing I've learned while he's been stalking me is that I hate him more then I ever did.”

        On their way out of the restaurant, Meg gave Elizabeth a look so she marched right over to their table. Anna tried to stop her, but with no luck.

        “How do you two know each other?” Elizabeth asked, as nice as possible.

        “We met at my shop and when I learned he was your ex, I just had to find out more about him, and look here we are! Don't you think it's great? You two back together again…”

        “We're not back together and never will be!” Elizabeth yelled then marched out of the restaurant, Anna followed behind her.

        Meg and Thomas looked at each other and laughed.

        ---A Few Weeks Later---

        “Leave me alone!”

        Thomas had been stalking Elizabeth for the last four days and she was getting sick and tired of it. He had followed her to the hospital that day saying he had chest pains, but she wasn't buying it.

         He grabbed his stomach. “Please, it really does hurt. Seeing you is just an added bonus.”

        She glared at him before dragging him into an examining room. “Fine I'll check you out.” She did the tests as quick as she could, but nothing was wrong with him. He wasn't even making an pain noises. “You're such a liar!”

        “Okay so I lied…”

        “Damn you, Thomas!”

        “I'm sorry, I had to see you! You keep shutting doors on me and running away. I still don't understand what this guy has that I don't besides no brain.”

        Elizabeth started to sob. Couldn't he see?

        “He listens to me! Treats me with respect, he actually shows me he loves me!”

        “I'm sorry but I'm not giving up. I deserve a second chance with you,” Thomas said getting off the examining table. “I love you and I'll be damned if I let anyone else have you!”

        “You have no rights to me! The day you left me was the day you lost that. Just go away and leave me alone!”

        Anna walked into the room and saw Thomas for the second time. She hated him for what he had done to her best friend years ago, almost more now that he was fiddling with her emotions. “Elizabeth?”

        Elizabeth turned around and immidiately walked over to her. “He won't leave me alone!”

        Anna just handed her a plane ticket to Ohio. “Here.”

        “What’s this for?” Elizabeth asked.

        “Come outside with me and I'll tell you.” Anna grabbed her arm and started to pull her out of the room. “And Thomas, don't even think about following us.”

        When they got outside, Elizabeth looked at the ticket. “Well what's this for? Why would I want to go to Ohio?”

        “The guys are there. They will be for a few days. It's the perfect getaway.”

        “Did you tell them I was coming?”

        Anna nodded. “Justin's the only one that doesn't know. They say he's been a wreck. He won't go clubbing with them at night, he just wants to stay in his room and sleep. He misses you.”

        Elizabeth wiped her eyes. “Thank you.” She felt like a child for crying. But then again, Thomas always loved to toy with her emotions.

        “Are you going to tell him about Thomas?”

        “Yes, I have to. I mean it hurts so much to have kept it from him so long. I have to tell him about the kiss too…”

        “You kissed Thomas?”

        “No, he kissed me. I tried to move away but God damn the man's strong.” Elizabeth grabbed her jacket off the coat hanger and put it on. “I'll go home and pack. The flight leaves in a few hours so I don't have much time.”

        “Come on, I'll drive you home,” Anna said grabbing Elizabeth's arm and pulling her down to her car. They both got inside and drove back to Elizabeth's apartment.

        Neither of them paid any attention to Thomas’s demands and curses as they drove off.

---